Alablanza
by barrios-best
Summary: Georgia Locke moves from Hawaii to New York, and is very unhappy about it. They live in a small apartment, her mother working at a salon in the Bronx that's owned by her cousin. She absolutely hates it. Hates it up until the day she meets Sonny, a boy who makes her forget all about her mother, weird siblings or any and all of her problems. A boy who makes New York feel like home.
1. How Do You Like Your Coffee?

Chapter 1

It couldn't get any worse.

At least, that's what Georgia Locke had thought before the rain came. It was pouring, the fat droplets making loud _splat_ sounds on the plastic of her umbrella. Despite her hot anger, she was shivering, and she chided herself for not going with her mother to get warmer clothes the day after they moved to New York. Cold weather was _so_ not her thing. She was used to hot, sandy beaches, warm saltwater, and light breezes. The winds she was being subjected to today, though, were definitely not the soft breezes she was used to. She sighed. Just frickin' fantastic.

Her mom had already kicked her out today, and she usually went to Lulu's house afterwords, but she was in New York, with no beach houses with lots of land like she was used to, and even worse - no Lulu. So here she was, sitting on a bench outside of some kind of shop whose doors were closed to keep the rain from blowing in. She knew she couldn't just stop in the store and wait out the storm- she didn't know how the owner was about loiterers, and she wasn't dressed like someone you would want in a shop anyway. A baggy hoodie, ripped jeans, and combat boots were the warmest clothes she had, and she had noticed that she looked more like a thug or punk than anything else. So the store was out of the question.

At least, that's what she had thought until someone tapped her shoulder. She whirled around to face them and was met with a steaming cup of coffee. She hadn't even heard the door to the shop open. The boy holding it couldn't have been any older than her, maybe seventeen at the oldest. He smiled at her as she took the styrofoam cup out of his hands.

"You looked cold. I wasn't sure how you would like your coffee, so I brought it to you black. If you want, you can come inside and I'll have my cousin make it the way you want."

Georgia had been conditioning herself to drink black, cutting back on the creamer and the sugar every time she drank coffee, but a sweet, milky, warm drink sounded really good right now. She breathed in the coffee bean scent from the cup and shot a smile at the unnamed boy.

"Sure. Thanks for the offer." He held open the door for her as she stood up, shaking the rain from her umbrella as she walked underneath the awning. As she stepped inside, though, a voice came from behind the counter.

"Sonny, I swear, if any of that godforsaken rain gets on my counter-" She looked back at the boy who had opened the door for her, who was letting it close slowly while he walked over to who she presumed was the cousin he had spoken of. He chuckled as he took the umbrella from her hand and placed it on a rack by the door. How had she not noticed that?

"Chillax, cuz. It's just water." The man behind the counter looked like he was about to say something to the boy- _Sonny,_ she remembered - before realizing she was there. Sonny took the coffee from her and handed it to his cousin before turning and asking her how she liked her coffee.

"Uh, one creamer, three sugars, thanks." She stood there awkwardly while the man made her coffee.

"You like cinnamon? I think it honestly makes the coffee better." She was taken aback by the question. The coffee shops in Hawaii made the coffee as ordered, no questions, no added anything. It took her a second to answer.

"Um, yeah." He smiled and took a small shaker from behind the counter, sprinkling just a bit into the cup before stirring it and handing it back to her. She took a tentative sip, all while eyeing the boy, who had jumped up to sit on the counter and was popping peanut M&Ms into his mouth one at a time. As the coffee hit her tongue, flavor burst inside her mouth. It was creamy and milky, but the slight bitterness of the coffee still peeked through the sugar. And, he was right, the cinnamon added just the right amount of spice to the drink, perfecting the flavor. Warmth flooded her cold body, all the way down to her toes, and she couldn't tell if it was from the coffee or from the hopeful smile of Sonny, who was looking straight at her. Georgia pulled her hood further over her neck, feeling a blush creep into her face.

"You like it?" The question came from the man behind the counter, snapping her out of her Sonny-and-coffee induced haze. She nodded vigorously before taking another sip. "I'm Usnavi. I own this place. That goofball who brought you coffee is Sonny, my cousin. Sorry if we bothered you, but you looked cold." She started to shake her head to assure him that no, they didn't bother her, just the opposite, but he kept talking. "You new around here? I don't think I've ever seen you around the barrio before." She swallowed her drink of coffee before answering.

"Yeah, my family just moved here from Hawaii. Just this weekend, actually, so I haven't been here long." Sonny was the one who spoke up this time.

"Hawaii? Why'd you want to leave from there?" Georgia shrugged, closing her eyes in what she hoped would be taken as a, _I'm not sure, my mother's absolutely crazy._ He seemed to get the gist of the gesture and changed the subject. "How long did you live there?"

"Since I was three. I'm fifteen now, so... seven years?" He leaned forward, listening with wide eyes.

"What was it like?" She smiled, the memory of her old beach town washing over her like the salt water she always swam in. She closed her eyes to lock in the feeling.

"It was warm, and there were _so_ many palm trees..."

During the course of the conversation, she found herself sitting on the counter next to Sonny and eating Skittles. They sat there for at least an hour and a half, talking about Hawaii and coffee preferences and _Why don't you like peanut M &Ms? _(a horrified question from Sonny) and Georgia's nut allergy. The sky was already lightening from the aftermath of the storm when she realized how much time had passed.

"Oh!" She checked her phone. Alaska was supposed to text her and tell her when it was safe to come home, and she already had three messages from her twin brother. "Sorry to leave so suddenly, but I have to get going." Sonny waved off her apology.

"It's fine. I was probably annoying you anyway." He laughed, and she started laughing because of the ridiculousness of his statement.

"You weren't annoying! Anyway, thanks for staying and talking to me for so long." He waved at her as she grabbed her umbrella from the stand and, pulling her hood over her head, opening the door. She smiled and waved back as she let the door close behind her, stepping out onto the street. A few steps down the block, she turned around, hoping to catch one last glimpse of Sonny before he started working again. What she saw made her smile beyond what she thought she could.

Sonny was still waving.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hello ! I'm Avery, and this is my first story. I'd really like some feedback (constructive criticism, support, etc.). Thanks for reading!**


	2. Let's Go, Loverboy

"Hey Georgia!" I turned around. My twin brother, Alaska, was standing on the sidewalk outside the bodega. "I decided to come and meet you halfway. I'll walk you back home." The rain had stopped by then, and I no longer needed my umbrella or the hood to my sweatshirt.

"Thanks." He came to walk beside me and held out his drink.

"Root beer?" I took the straw into my mouth. It tasted good, but not as good as Sonny's slushie that he made me. "So I guess you made a friend?" I swallowed the root beer before beginning to speak.

"Yeah. His name's Sonny. He and his older cousin work at the bodega." Alaska wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Is he cute?" I punched his arm lightly.

"No!" Alaska gave me a look. "Well... a little." He smiled a ten-alarm smile. I was so lucky to have him as my brother.

It's a surprise to some people when Alaska and I say that we're twins. Alaska is tall, skinny, wears glasses, and has stick straight, jet-black hair. I, on the other hand, am (very) petite and curvy. I have a crap ton of freckles everywhere, and my hair is super wavy and dirty blonde. The only thing that we have in common, looks-wise, is our huge green eyes. Alaska always says that they're a curse to him, because all the girls want to date him when they see him. The reason why they're a curse to him is because he's gay, which is probably why he asked me if Sonny was cute.

"I don't think you would have a chance, though. Sonny seems pretty straight to me." Alaska slouched and gave me a pout, which I tried my hardest not to laugh at. "But, you know, things happen..." He smiled at me and was about to say something when we heard yelling from behind us.

"Hey! Stop spraying that crap all over my bodega!" Usnavi stood at the bodega door with a broom in his hand, shooing away a teenage boy who looked a few years older than us. His clothes were paint-stained and ripped, and he carried a spray paint can in his hand while he ran in our direction. He wasn't looking where he was going, though, and ran right into Alaska, knocking both of them to the ground. Alaska was the only one to scream.

As they untangled themselves on the ground, Sonny jogged up to us. "Pete, man, Usnavi's never going to warm up to you if you keep tagging the bodega. You know how he feels about that." He turned to me. "Hey, Georgia."

I waved at him and smiled. The boy who I assumed was Pete stood up, helping Alaska up by a hand. Alaska brushed off his collar and glared at Pete, taking a step away from him and crossing his arms. Alaska was very overdramatic when it came to getting his clothes dirty, and he had dirt all over the front of his sweater vest. I shrugged at him.

"Dude! I was just claiming my territory. You know that if I don't, some other whackjob is going to think that he can spray the bodega! And you know that Usnavi loves me, man." He gave a smirk in Sonny's direction, then turned to Alaska. "Hey, sorry man. I's just tryna get outa there before I got another lecture." He held out his fist, and I saw the bisexual flag that he had tattooed on his bicep. I looked at Alaska and grinned. He begrudgingly fist bumped Pete.

"The name's Pete. What about you?" Alaska answered stiffly.

"My name is Alaska Locke, and this is my twin sister, Georgia." Pete whistled.

"Alaska? That's a cool name." He stopped to think for a second. "Wait here a bit, 'kay?" Alaska looked confused, but nodded. Pete ran up to the nearest building, an abandoned laundromat right next to a salon. He grabbed a can of paint out of his belt, and I realized what he was going to do.

Sonny came over to stand by me. "That's my best friend, Pete. He spray paints and airbrushes shirts. His work's really good." We both watched as Pete sprayed 'ALASKA' in big, bold letters and filled them in with a turquoise and purple gradient. I turned to Sonny and raised my eyebrows, impressed. Sonny nodded. "I know, right?"

The entire time, Alaska stood, mesmerized by Pete's art abilities. At least, that's what he claimed later. I didn't mention that the entire time, Alaska was blushing like crazy. Once he was finished, Pete jogged back over to Alaska. "There, now it's your building. No one else will tag it, so you can do whatever you want with it." He paused. "Or, you could ask me to do whatever you wanted." Alaska opened and closed his mouth, but nothing came out. Pete grabbed his arm and scribbled something on it.

"There's my number, if you ever need any artwork, or _anything_ else." He winked at Alaska, then started to walk away. He paused, though, and turned back around.

"By the way, has anyone ever told you that you're super cute?" He threw another wink at Alaska who was standing and staring at him in disbelief, then waved at Sonny. "Bye, homie!" We all watched as Pete jogged away, stopping to pick up the paint can that he dropped by the bodega.

Sonny smirked. "That's Pete for you." He leaned in close to whisper to me,"He flirts with everyone, but he's never sprayed someone's name on a building before." He stood back and shrugged at me before grinning.

"Sonny! Get your sorry ass back in here! I ain't paying you to flirt with girls!" Usnavi stood outside the bodega yet again, sans broom and shaking fist. Sonny blushed before waving at me, then turning around and jogging away. I waved right before he went in the bodega door, then turned around to Alaska, who was standing, starstruck, while holding his marked-on arm as if it was the most precious thing in the world. I smiled at him.

"Let's go, loverboy." He punched my shoulder, but I threw my arm around him and began to walk home. Living here might not be all that bad.


End file.
